Journey to a land that [the New York] Time[s] forgot

The Washington Post’s David Von Drehle reports on his 700 mile drive through red America — Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas — in search of an understanding of “why George Bush won.” During his journey, Von Drehle rarely got near a “blue” county or an insight. On the other hand, his piece is fairly balanced at least compared his unfortunate coverage of the fight over Bush’s judicial nominees and of Secretary Rumsfeld.
Tim Blair has some fun with Von Drehle’s travel log. Patrick Ruffini sees more merit in it, finding the piece worth reading “if only for this reason: in the quotes [by a handful of red Americans] you find a common-sense reaffirmation of why people voted for Bush. If you know more than three people who did, these quotes will come as no surprise to you, even as the author feels they would to most readers.”